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Plenty of Experience Fuels Peverley

by
John Bishop
/ Boston Bruins

GUELPH, Ontario -- Given what he's achieved, Rich Peverley could be excused if he were satisfied.

But even as the Ontario-native showed us around his beautiful new home in Guelph, he pointed out that in his experience -- and there's been plenty of experiences for Rich in the NCAA, ECHL, AHL and NHL -- nothing feeds dreams like achieving them.

However, even the bright August sunshine on a pristine Canadian day couldn't hide the dark look in Pev's eyes as his thoughts drifted to his most recent hockey season.

"We were able to win the Stanley Cup…but after you spend a year being knocked out of the playoffs first round after winning the Cup it definitely drives you to go back and to win it again," said Peverley. "It’s not the same type of life you want to live.

"You want to live being a winner and winning is the ultimate goal."

But beyond Peverley's obvious disappointment regarding the 2011-12 campaign, there's no doubt in my mind that Rich was always a winner.

And despite his being sheepish about showing the BostonBruins.com and bostonbruinsTV crew some of the memorabilia he's collected along his hockey journey (most of which was in a plastic bin that had until recently resided at his parents' house), the pride Pevs has put into each step of the way is apparent.

Even so, I asked Rich what, if anything, his 30-year-old self would tell the 19-year-old St. Lawrence University skater to change as he embarked on his career.

Peverley thought for a second, looked around, and with the sounds of his happy family cascading over the backyard pool just shook his head.

"Yeah I wouldn’t go back at all," said Peverley. "These are just learning steps that you always have to take and it’s a learning curve.

"I’ve learned a lot through my experiences and I think that that’s the ultimate learning tool," he added. "So, you know, I wouldn’t change anything."